Map of El Salvador | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: El Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the Central American Federation in 1839. A 12-year civil war which cost the lives of some 75,000 people was brought to a close in 1992 when the government and leftist rebels signed a treaty that provided for military and political reforms.


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Location: Middle America bordering the North Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras

Geographic coordinates: 13 50 N 88 55 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 21,040 km²
Land: 20,720 km²
Water: 320 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Massachusetts

Land boundaries
Total: 545 km
Border countries: (2) Guatemala 203 km; , Honduras 342 km

Coastline: 307 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 200 NM

Climate: tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands

Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Cerro El Pital 2,730 m

Natural resources: hydropower geothermal power petroleum arable land

Land use
Arable land: 27%
Permanent crops: 8%
Permanent pastures: 29%
Forests and woodland: 5%
Other: 31% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 1200 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes very destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity

Geography
Note: smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea


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Population: 6,237,662 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 1.85% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 48% (1999 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Salvadoran
Adjective: Salvadoran

Ethnic groups: mestizo 90% Amerindian 1% white 9%

Languages: Spanish Nahua (among some Amerindians)

Religions
Note: there is extensive activity by Protestant groups throughout the country; by the end of 1992, there were an estimated 1 million Protestant evangelicals in El Salvador

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 37.68% (male 1,198,623; female 1,151,584)
15-64 years: 57.27% (male 1,693,865; female 1,878,254)
65 years and over: 5.05% (male 142,345; female 172,991) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.85% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 28.67 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 6.18 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.95 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes; Hurricane Mitch damage
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.9 male/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male/female
Total population: 0.95 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 28.4 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 70.03 years
Male: 66.43 years
Female: 73.81 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.34 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.6% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 20,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 1300 (1999 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 10 and over can read and write
Total population: 71.5%
Male: 73.5%
Female: 69.8% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of El Salvador
Conventional short form: El Salvador
Local long form: Republica de El Salvador
Local short form: El Salvador

Government type: republic

Capital: San Salvador

Administrative divisions: 14 departments (departamentos singular - departamento); Ahuachapan Cabanas Chalatenango Cuscatlan La Libertad La Paz La Union Morazan San Miguel San Salvador Santa Ana San Vicente Sonsonate Usulutan

Dependent areas

Independence: 15 September 1821 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day 15 September (1821)

Constitution: 23 December 1983

Legal system: based on civil and Roman law with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Francisco FLORES Perez (since 1 June 1999); Vice President Carlos QUINTANILLA Schmidt (since 1 June 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Francisco FLORES Perez (since 1 June 1999); Vice President Carlos QUINTANILLA Schmidt (since 1 June 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: cabinet selected by the president
Elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 7 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2004)
Election results: Francisco FLORES Perez elected president; percent of vote - Francisco FLORES (ARENA) 52%, Facundo GUARDADO (FMLN) 29%, Ruben ZAMORA (CDU) 7.5%, other (no individual above 3%) 11.5%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2003)
Election results: percent of vote by party - ARENA 36.1%, FMLN 35.14%, PCN 8.76%, PDC 7.08%, CD 5.32%, PAN 3.75%, USC 1.47%, PLD 1.29%; seats by party - ARENA 28, FMLN 31, PCN 14, PDC 5, CD 3, PAN 1, independent 2

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly)

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Rene AGUILUZ]; Democratic Convergence or CD (includes PSD MNR MPSC) [Ruben ZAMORA secretary general]; Democratic Party or PD [Jorge MELENDEZ]; Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front or FMLN [Fabio CASTILLO]; Liberal Democratic Party or PLD [Kirio Waldo SALGADO president]; National Action Party or PAN [Gustavo Rogelio SALINAS secretary general]; National Conciliation Party or PCN [Ciro CRUZ Zepeda president]; National Republican Alliance or ARENA [Walter ARAUJO]; Social Christian Union or USC (formed by the merger of Christian Social Renewal Party or PRSC and Unity Movement or MU) [Abraham RODRIGUEZ president]

International organization participation: BCIE CACM ECLAC FAO G-77 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM ISO (correspondent) ITU LAES LAIA (observer) MINURSO NAM (observer) OAS OPANAL OPCW PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Rene Antonio LEON Rodriguez
In the us chancery: 2,308 California Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 265-9,671
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco
In the us consulates: Boston
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Rose M. LIKINS
From the us embassy: Boulevard Santa Elena Final, Antiguo Cuscatlan, La Libertad, San Salvador
From the us mailing address: Unit 3,116, APO AA 34,023
From the us telephone: [503] 278-4,444
From the us fax: [503] 278-6,011

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top) white and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL; similar to the flag of Nicaragua which has a different coat of arms centered in the white band - it features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; also similar to the flag of Honduras which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: El Salvador is a struggling Central American economy which has been suffering from a weak tax collection system factory closings the aftermaths of Hurricane Mitch of 1998 and the devastating earthquakes of early 2001 and weak world coffee prices. On the bright side in recent years inflation has fallen to single digit levels and total exports have grown substantially. The trade deficit has been offset by remittances (an estimated $1.6 billion in 2000) from Salvadorans living abroad and by external aid. As of 1 January 2001 the US dollar was made legal tender alongside the colon.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 2.5% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2000 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 12%
Industry: 28%
Services: 60% (1999 est.)

Agriculture products: coffee sugar corn rice beans oilseed cotton sorghum; shrimp; beef dairy products

Industries: food processing beverages petroleum chemicals fertilizer textiles furniture light metals

Industrial production growth rate: 5% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 2.35 million (1999)
By occupation agriculture: 30%
By occupation industry: 15%
By occupation services: 55% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 10% (2000 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 48% (1999 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.2%
Highest 10: 38.3% (1995)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $1.8 billion
Expenditures: $2.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.5% (2000 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $2.8 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: offshore assembly exports coffee sugar shrimp textiles chemicals electricity
Partners: US 63% Guatemala 11% Honduras 7% Costa Rica 4% (1999)

Imports: $4.6 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: raw materials consumer goods capital goods fuels foodstuffs petroleum electricity
Partners: US 52% Guatemala 9% Mexico 6% Costa Rica 3% (1999)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $4.1 billion (2000 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Salvadoran colones per US dollar - 8.755 (fixed rate since 1993)


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Electricity
Production: 3.641 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 45.65%
Production by source hydro: 41.01%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 13.34% (1999)
Consumption: 3.638 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 208 million kWh (1999)
Imports: 460 million kWh (1999)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 380,000 (1998)
Mobile cellular: 40,163 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: nationwide microwave radio relay system
International: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .sv
Service providers isps: 4 (2000)
Users: 40,000 (2000)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $112 million (FY99)
Percent of gdp: 0.7% (FY99)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 83 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 4
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 79
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 17
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 62 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 1 (2000 est.)

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 562 km
Narrow gauge: 562 km 0.914-m gauge
Note: length of route which is operational is reduced to 283 km by disuse and lack of maintainance (2001)

Roadways

Waterways: Rio Lempa partially navigable

Merchant marine: none (2000 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: with respect to the maritime boundary in the Golfo de Fonseca the ICJ referred to the line determined by the 1900 Honduras-Nicaragua Mixed Boundary Commission and advised that some tripartite resolution among El Salvador Honduras and Nicaragua likely would be required

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs